Hamilton County Schools has accepted $591,797 from the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office to hire eight additional full-time school security officers. The money will increase the number of officers from 29 to 37. The Board of Education approved the funds last week in a unanimous vote at its meeting.
"We have been working really closely with the county Sheriff's Office to ensure that we've got coverage across the county with security," Superintendent Justin Robertson said Thursday, referring to his ongoing conversations with Hamilton County Sheriff-elect Austin Garrett.
The transfer of funds is due to an overage in the sheriff's fiscal year 2023 operating budget, which includes funding for 32 school resource officers. However, the sheriff has been unable to fill all of the positions and is struggling to recruit officers in general.
"They're still having a hard time recruiting, and so (Garrett) recommended sending funds from their budget to our budget for us to hire additional SSOs so that we could have some full coverage and overlap across schools," Robertson said.
County commissioners approved a budget amendment Wednesday for the transfer of the funds.
The half-million builds on nearly $2 million in existing funding -- $1 million from the county and $950,000 from the district -- for school security officers. The effort is part of the district's plan to expand school safety following the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, earlier this year.
A school security officer differs from a school resource officer in that they are not actively employed by law enforcement. Instead, they are employed by the school. School security officers cannot make arrests, but they may carry a weapon, use force and detain individuals if they suspect a threat.
"(Being a school security officer) is an opportunity that many very well-regarded professionals see as a great opportunity for them moving forward," board member Marco Perez said at the meeting.
Jim Corbin, student security coordinator for Hamilton County Schools, said in a previous interview that many school security officers are retired law enforcement, which makes hiring easier from a recruiting standpoint.
The funds are a one-time investment, Robertson said, and will not recur year over year.
Contact Carmen Nesbitt at cnesbitt@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327. Follow her on Twitter @carmen_nesbitt.